Motor vehicle



E. RUMPLER Feb. Z5, 1930.

MOTOR VEHICLE llu.

Patented Feb.

ras. PAT-ENT OFFICE mmm nUnrLEn, or' nEaLnz, GERMANY p KOTOR vmrcLEAppummn meenam a0, 19s?, serie No. 162,348, ma in oei-muy member s, im.

i VThe invention relates to motor vehicles, especially to such as havefront wheel drive and of which the road wheels are s winging.

The accompanying drawings show by .way VIi'of example a constructionaccording to the invention.

Figs. 1 and 2 4show a. vehicle on which the front wheels are driven andsw'4 ing,

Figs. 3 and 4 show the swinging ront axle, Figs. 5 and 6 show the partspermitting vthe swinging of the-axle. s

In Figs. 1 and 2, all driving parts such as the'motor,'clutch,transmission, etc., are located in front of the frontdriving axle 'sothat the s ace in the rear of the frontv axle,

which is t e space-to be occupied by the vehicle body, is free fromdriving-shafts etc. This arrangement permits the vehicle body to be setlower than in the usual arrangement as'the bottom of the-body may beplaced as low as, or even lower than, theto of the low lying framewithout decreasing t e road clearance below a safe minimum.

The'front wheels are also swinging in a manner asshown by Fig.` 3. Thelswinging vaxle tubes d which form the front axle ter- `minate incylindrical guide members e lrestingin the gearbox can'swing aroundlt insuch-a way that they e'mainfdriving shaft g 3 of the vehicle. Thedriving Vshaft h resting Y in each axle-,tube.'d .receives'powerthroughvbevel gears 'ijin .the gear boxA .,-Theshaft x 'h is 'connectedlwithashaft piece lc loli-the jA driving wheel a through a'Cardanv joint 3,5v--'which lies in a closedfcasfin'g formed 'bythe forkedend d oftheaxlel 'tube d and the stu end d; of. ytubular v ,d shaftso? ofthe'stubaxle darepivoted.' "I 'The axis of the steering knucklethusformed between fthe axle tube and the stubaxle passeslthrough.tire-center of the'Cardan jointl m.

i 4-5 The steering arm vp secured to the lower To render the Cardanjointy packingmembers n, 'n' are carried by-themembers d', d2,respectively, which form the hous- 0 ingffor the Joint.

As shown in Fig. 1.4, the forked ,housing member d may be provided withan inner spherical surface for cooperation with thepacking member'n ofthe axle tube d, and when this construction is employed the ackingmember n (Fig. 3) may be omitted. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thecylindrical portions e are practically selected of such smallA diameterthat the driving bevel gears i are situated essentially on the side ofthe cylindrical portions e. The cylinder surface of the guide portionsdoes not enclose the bevel gears, so that a small ear box is obtainedthat can easily be hel tight and has small rubbing surfaces. Thecylindrical portion e being so constructed that the axle tube d can bemounted without braces, the tightening therefore is possible by verysimple means. l

The cylindrical portions e are protected against outside influence bymeans of special tightening parts lw` 'located inside of the gear box f.The part w is movable and is pushed steadily against its ,seat byfaspring, the pres-r sure being preferably in the direction from vtheinside 4to outside of the gear box. The

seat of the tightening part is preferably formed spherical. A

`As shown in'Fi 1, the'not driven rear road wheels are mounted on swingarms e sothat eachl wheel swings independently of' the others in a planethat is parallel or nearly parallel'to the driving direction.I Y'Through fork-like guiding portions c1 of lthe swing arm c each wheel-iskept in always.- the same swingin plane. The same result which areconnected in` a detachable manner, so tha-t after removing one of thearms the f road wheel may be easll1 taken o. In.. Figs. 1 and 2 allriving parts such as the motor, "clutch, transmission, etc., are`*located in front of the front drivi axle, thereby leaving the space'on top oft e low l g frame 3 supposed to receive the body4 fyreld onaccount of having no driving shafts, etc., the room for the-passengersis not re-l stricted and the room below the frame is also free, givinggreat road clearance.

Having now described my invention, what y can be obtained y guiding rodsor arms,

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States ise 1. In a mounting for driven steering wheels of motor vehicles, a maindrive shaft extending longitudinally of the vehicle, a gear casing intowhich said shaft extends, a pair of half-axle tubes having their innerends pivotally supported on said casing for movement in a substantiallyvertical plane and about the axis of said main drive shaft as a center,a tubular stub axle at the outer end of the respective half-axles, theadjacent ends of said pair of half-axles and stub axles being forked andpivotally connected to form steering knuckles, a drive shaft in each ofsaid halfaxle tubes, means in said casing for connecting each of saiddrive shafts directlyT to said main driving shaft, a stub shaft in eachof said tubular stub axles, and a Cardan joint connecting each stubshaft to the corresponding drive shaft, the center points ofthe saidCardan joints lying in the axes of the corresponding steering knuckles,each of said halfaxle tubes with its drive shaft comprising the I solesupporting means for the inner end of its respective stub axle and stubshaft.

2. In a mounting for driven steering Wheels of a'motor vehicle, a maindrive shaft extending longitudinally of the vehicle, a pair of half-axletubes and means supporting the inner ends thereof for pivotal movementof the respective half-axle tubes about the axis of said main driveshaft as a center and in a substantially vertical plane, a pair oftubular stub axles, means pivotally connecting the inner end portions ofsaid stub axles with the outer end portions of the respective halfaxletubes, said connecting means restricting the relative movement of saidstub axles to angular movement about a vertical axis, whereby saidconnecting means constitute steering knuckles, a drive shaft in each ofsaid half-axle tubes and a stub shaft in each of said stub axles, aCardan joint connection between each drive shaft and the cooperatingstub shaft, the center points of the said Cardan joints lying in theaxes of the corresponding steering knuckles, each of said half-axletubes-With its drive shaft comprising the sole supporting means for theinner end of its respectiv'e stub axle and stub shaft, and a dif- Yferential drive for said drive shafts which comprises a gear carrled bysald mam drlve shaft and gears carried by the inner ends of said shafts.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

EDMUND RUMPLER.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,748,903 GrantedFebruary 25, 1930, to 1 EDMUND RUMPLER.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed `specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: v Page 1,line 12, beginning with the word "In" strike out the paragraph ending4in the word "minimum'l line 23, y

and insert instead "ln-Figs. 1 and 2, thev `front wheels a are driven,while the nondrivenl rear wheels b are eachl'of them carried by swingingarms c which can independently swing one from the other in such a mannerthat the swinging level of each wheel is parallel or nearly parallel tothe driving direction"; same page,

line 91, beginning with the word "In" strike out the paragraph ending inthe word V "clearance" in line 99, and insert instead y "In Figs. 1 and2, all driving parts suc as the motor, clutch, transmission, etc., arelocated infront of the front driving axle so that the space in the rearof the frontaxle, which is the space to be occupied by the vehicle body,is free from driving shafts, etc.

' This larrangement permits the vehicle body to be set lower than in theusual arrangement as the bottom of the bo'dyv may be placed as low as,or even 1ower than, the top of thflow lying frame without decreasing theroad clearance below a safe rnnimum"; and that' the said Letters Patentshould be read with these corrections therein that the same may conformto the'record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed'and sealed :this 1st day of April, A. D; 1930.

. M. J. Moore, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patenta.

